Wish Upon a Star
by Sanura Bey
Summary: No matter where or when you are, hearing voices is never a good thing. So, why is it that when Emilia hears a voice, she gets the one thing she's always wanted?
1. I Wish

I laid on my bed comfortably on my bed re-watching Howl's Moving Castle for the umpteenth time. I was alone, again. Not that I wasn't used to it. My mom was a CEO of a multimillion dollar company and my dad was the chief architect on very large building, so I had a lot of time alone over my life. But, today was different. Today we were supposed to go out to Rainforest Café and spend the day together. Today was my 18th birthday. I heard something from downstairs and paused my movie. I got up and looked out the door.

"Hello?" I called out. Nothing. I shook my head before going back inside my room. I spun when I heard something crash. I rushed out of my room and to the stairs. "Mom? Dad?" I called out. I heard more crashes before going downstairs slowly. "Who's there?" I tried again.

"Emilia." I heard someone whisper from behind me. I turned quickly and saw no one. I took a shaky breath before going downstairs.

"Hello?" I called out once again. "Who's here?"

"Emilia." The voice called again. I went into the kitchen and looked around. Nothing, again. I grabbed a knife from the knife block and attempted using it as a defense against my invisible stalker. "Alone." I turned towards the voice again.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"So alone, my little Emilia." The voice told me.

"Who are you?!" I asked starting to get angry.

"What do you wish?" the voice asked. I didn't answer as I continued looking for the owner of the voice. "You must speak your wish for it to come true."

"Tell a wish it won't come true." I said. "Isn't that how it works?"

"Not for us." It said.

"Who is us?" I asked but it didn't answer. "Tell me something!"

"Make a wish." It told me.

"Fine." I said and thought for a moment. "I wish my movie was real." I joked.

"Wish granted." It told me. Suddenly, I struggled to get my breath. I put my hand on my chest and dropped the knife. I fell to my knees before falling to my side and staring up at the ceiling. Darkness claimed me soon after.

* * *

"Are you alright?" a girl asked. I groaned in pain before trying to open my eyes.

"Ow…" I said slowly before trying to sit up. "What happened?"

"I just found you here." The girl told me. "Are you alright?" I finally opened my eyes to see a familiar face staring down at me.

"No way." I said shocked.

"You're not okay?" she asked me confused.

"Might be hallucinating." I told her and she looked at me confused.

"My name's Sophie Hatter. What's yours?" She asked me.

"Emilia." I answered.

"Come on." She said. "Let's get you to the shop." What the hell happened to me?


	2. Three Years Later

That was three years ago to the day. The wish I'd made had done exactly what I'd wanted it to do and today was my 21st birthday. As I got out of bed I couldn't help but wonder about my family. While they never payed much attention to me when I was there, would they notice I was gone? I shook my head to clear my thoughts before getting ready for the day. I pulled on my black and white dress on. Did it match the style of other women? No, but that never bothered me before. The dress I'd had made shortly after I'd arrived. Don't get me wrong, Sophie was extremely kind in letting me borrow her clothes, but there was only so many plain dresses I could take. The dress was mostly black with the exception of the bust. It was white with a black ribbon going across the top. I braided my hair before placing it into a bun that was tied back with a black ribbon. Only two pieces were hanging by my face to frame it. I'd gotten so used to doing this over the past three years I almost didn't notice I did it anymore. Sophie's father had already passed away by the time I'd shown up in her life, but she insisted that I stay with her until I found my family. I lied and told her we'd gotten separated during a family vacation. Her mother treated me as one of her own daughters and her sister welcomed me with open arms. A few months later, Lettie moved out and started working and hasn't settled down sense. I enjoyed my job at the hat shop selling to customers.

"Hey Emilia!" One of my regulars called to me and I smiled up at her.

"Hey Maria, here for another hat?" I asked her.

"I have a big date tonight." she said with a slight blush on her face.

"Then you have to tell me all about him." I laughed. She told me all about her new guy as I helped her find a hat. Once we found her a hat I finished the sale smiling.

"When are you going to find yourself a man?" she asked me happily and I froze. I hadn't been actively looking for a man because I didn't even know it I was going to be able to stay after the events of the movie ended.

"I'm not ready to settle down yet, Maria." I told her smiling.

"You're not getting any younger Emilia." she reminded me.

"Exactly." I laughed and she sighed before leaving. I waved her out before taking care of the next customer. I'd had offers of dates in the three years I'd lived here, but none had caught my eye which made both Sophie and Lettie say I was too picky. What could I say? I had high expectations out of my men and the men in this town just didn't cut it.

* * *

Once I locked up the shop at the end of the day I went back to where the ladies who made the hats were. They were talking among themselves as I made my way to Sophie.

"Hey, you almost ready?" I asked her.

"Yes, I just have a bit more to finish on this hat then I'm done." she told me smiling.

"Ok, I'll just get my hat then." I said before leaving her alone to her work. I looked outside as the train passed us by, its black smoke covering our windows. I grabbed my white hat that had a simple thick black ribbon on it.

"Sophie," I turned to see Anna looking into Sophie's working area. "Emilia's closed the shop already, you've done enough work. Why don't you two come out with us this time." My eyes widened at the familiar words. Even though it was slightly different due to my being included, this was the beginning of Sophie and Howl's story.

"No, I better finish this. You go and have fun." Sophie told Anna.

"All right, suit yourself." Anna said before turning to the younger girls. "Let's go girls!"

"Wait for me!" May called to them.

"Come on Emilia, come with us." Alisa told me with a large smile on her face.

"Sophie and I had plans to see Lettie today. We have a little tradition for today." I told her smiling.

"It seems as though the two of you just never have fun." she said before joining our coworkers.

"I'm ready!"

"Do I look ok?"

"Look it's Howl's castle!" I joined the other girls in looking outside to see the strange moving castle hiding in the fog. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to me after all this. Sure, Howl and Sophie would have each other, but would I go home or would I stay in this place forever?

 _What do you wish?_

I froze. I hadn't heard that voice in three years. I shook my head as the castle disappeared fully from view. Must have been my imagination.

"Did you hear what happened to that girl Martha in South Haven? They say Howl tore her heart out." I laughed lightly at the silly rumor. Just another girl dumped by Howl.

"Now I'm too scared to go out!"

"What?"

"Don't worry, he only prays on pretty girls." the four girls started laughing as Anna joined them.

"Alright let's go." she laughed before they all left and it was just me and Sophie.

"Finally!" I said stretching my arms above my head. "They're gone!"

"They just get excited easily. No need to be so mean." Sophie said as she finished the hat.

"I'm not being mean, but they remind me of these girls I used to hang around. They turned into bad news real quick." I told her.

"You don't talk about them much." Sophie mentioned and I looked at her confused. "Your life before I met you."

"Not much to tell really. Parents were never around and I had very few friends. Mostly just because I didn't trust easy." I explained.

"You trusted me well enough." she noted as she placed the hat on the mannequin. I couldn't exactly tell her it was because I spent my entire childhood obsessed with her love story to Howl now could I?

"You throw a vibe. That's all." I told her. She rose from her stool and dusted off her apron before taking it off and grabbing her hat. We moved from the workhouse to the shop/house. Sophie checked herself out in the mirror before pulling the hat over her eyes.

"I don't see why you're so worried about how you look." I said putting my wide brimmed hat on the crown of my head. "You're a beautiful woman Soph."

"You're a terrible liar." she told me.

"I swear your bad self-esteem is going to affect me one of these days." I sighed as she locked up the hat shop. We made our way through town chatting as we girls do so easily. We caught the cable car before getting of close to the town square. We started for the square, passing through an alley with a soldier that looked like he was guarding where the off duty soldiers kept their guns. Sophie gasped in shock and fear at seeing him and pulled me further faster. We found our way back to the main road, but it was blocked by people watching some sort of parade. Sophie looked down at the paper in her hands before deciding we should go around. We walked in silence before nearly running into the chest of a young soldier leaning on the wall and smiling down on us.

"Hey, looks like two little mice lost their way." he said getting closer to our faces.

"Oh, no, we're not lost." Sophie tried assuring him.

"These little mice look thirsty." he said as his partner moved beside him. I glared at them both as Sophie backed us up slowly. "We should take them for a cup of tea."

"No thanks. Our sisters' expecting us." Sophie told them.

"If you'd be so kind as to move out of our way. We'd like to keep going." I told them.

"They're pretty cute for mice." the brunette with the mustache told his blonde friend.

"How old are you anyway?" the blonde asked. "You live around here?"

"Leave us alone!" Sophie ordered sternly.

"I don't think either of those answers are your business." I told them as Sophie continued to back away slightly behind me now.

"You see? Your mustache scares all the girls." the blonde joked with his friend.

"Not this one and the other looks cuter when she's scared." the brunette told him smiling.

"There you are sweetheart, sorry I'm late." I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. Show time!


	3. Howl and Lettie

_"There you are sweetheart, sorry I'm late." I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. Show time!_

* * *

I waited for Sophie to jump when Howl put his hand on her shoulder, but I was surprised when I felt a hand around my waist. "I was looking everywhere for you." he said puling me into him.

"Hey! Hey! We're busy here!" one of the soldiers told him as they both stared him down.

"Are you really?" he asked them. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see him move his hand so his arm was on Sophie's shoulder. Good, at least his arm was around her. "It looked to me like the two of you were just leaving." he did a motion with his finger and they straitened up. Another finger motion and they turned to face against the wall. He moved his wand from in front of Soph from her side to behind us with the soldiers following. They griped as they marched away from us stiffly. "Don't hold it against them." he told us and we looked up to him. His familiar blue eyes weren't as bright as I'd imagined with his long blonde hair. They were more secretive and locked down than I remembered from the movie. Then again it's kinda hard to tell from a cartoon, isn't it? "Where to? I'll be your escort this evening."

"Oh, we're, um, just going to the bakery." Sophie told him nervously.

"Don't be alarmed but I'm being followed." he told us before taking her arm in his with his other still attached to my waist. We walked down the alleyway with no issues and it gave me a little time to think. Everything was going like it was supposed to in the movie with the exception of Howl's arm around my waist. Did it change anything? With me here could it really change the story so much? No, not in a million years. I had to help the two of them be together, but so long as the events of the movie stayed true I wouldn't have to but in so much. I smiled to myself until I heard the goop men flowing out of the walls. I know they are technically called Shinigami, but they sounded a lot more like goop in reality than in the movie! I was tempted to turn to look at them but stayed looking forward. "Sorry. Looks like you two are involved." he told us still looking forward. In front of us the Shinigami started pouring off the walls and from the ground and I caved into Howl slightly. Nothing like Sophie grabbing onto his arm in her fear, but they were a lot more frightening in person than I'd imagined. In a cartoon everything seemed softer, but in the harsh light of day they were pitch black, fat, wore the weird hats, and coming right for us. "This way." Howl quickly turned us down an alley, and we nearly made it out until the Shinigami pooled in front of us. "Hold on!" We'd been nearly running down the second alley before he jumped into the air with us in his arms. We floated in the air and I stared at the ground still not believing this could really be happening! "Now, straighten your legs and start walking." he told us holding our hands. I immediately did as he said and a smile grew on my face as we walked in the air. "See not so hard is it?" he asked looking at Sophie as she laughed lightly. I watched everyone under us and remembered when I was watching the movie for the first time that if someone had looked up they'd see straight up Sophie's skirt. Now, I couldn't care much on what they could see this was so much fun! "You are a natural." He said leaning towards me slightly. I just looked into his guarded blue eyes and smiled while feeling my cheeks burn slightly before looking back at the ground below us. We finally landed on the railing of the bakery and he lowered Sophie to the ground keeping me beside him. "I'll make sure to draw them off." he said before helping me to the balcony. "Wait a bit before you head back outside."

"K." Sophie told him.

"We'll be careful." I said and he just smiled at me. Wait, me?

"That's my girl." He jumped down from the railing to the ground below and we quickly went to the railing, but he was gone. We moved inside and I finally had time to think about what had just happened. First, he told me I was a natural. He was supposed to focus completely on Sophie. I understand that he wouldn't just ignore me since I was in just as much danger as Sophie, but he should still have been focused on her. Maybe it's because he didn't really know her yet? And then that goes to my second concern. He smiled at me and called me his girl. Sophie's his girl, not me. Maybe he's just confused since he just met us. I mean, as a child he only saw Sophie for a brief moment and her hair was lighter then. Suddenly, Lettie could be heard thundering through the halls towards us.

"Sophie! Emi!" we both turned from the window we'd ended up at to see Lettie.

"Lettie."

"What's going on? Someone just told me you two just floated down to our balcony." she told us.

"So that did happen? That wasn't a dream?" Sophie asked.

"Lettie! Would you like to use my office?" a man asked from behind us.

"I should really get back to work." she told him. "Thank you though!" they waved to each other and the three of us moved to a storage area where we told her what had happened. "Wow! He must have been a wizard then."

"But he was so kind to us." Sophie told her staring off into space. "He _rescued_ us Lettie."

"Of course he did! He was trying to steal your hearts!" Lettie told her. "The two of you are so lucky. If that wizard were Howl he would have eaten them!"

"Not mine." Sophie denied. "Howl only does that to beautiful girls."

"Don't give me that!" Lettie told her older sister.

"She does this everyday." I complained to Lettie.

"You were in just as much danger Emilia!" Lettie scolded."The two of you need to be more careful! It's dangerous out there! Even the Witch of the Waste is back on the prowl. Are the two of you listening?"

"Yes." I groaned as Sophie turned to her confused causing Lettie to groan at us.

"Lettie, the chocolate eclairs are done." a guy said sticking his head through a hole in the boxes.

"Ok, I'll be right there." she told him.

"Thanks." his head disappeared and he replaced the box.

"Speaking of hearts being stolen." I noted and she blushed.

"It's not like that." she told me and I just laughed at her.

"All right, we should get going now. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay." Sophie told her getting up and grabbing her hat. We left the storage area and as we were leaving the bakery they were getting a delivery.

"Hello Lettie."

"Hi, how are you doing?" she asked as he walked inside. She turned to Sophie and took her hands. "Now, Sophie, do you really want to spend the rest of you life in that hat shop?"

"The shop was just so important to father, and I'm the eldest I don't mind." Sophie tried reassuring her.

"I'm not asking what father would've wanted. I want to know what _you_ want." Lettie told her.

"Well..." Sophie started saying when the delivery guy came out again.

"See you later, Lettie."

"Good seeing you again."

"We better be going." Sophie told her getting out of answering the question.

"It's getting pretty late." I said looking at the setting sun.

"It's your life, Sophie, do something for yourself for once, will you?." Lettie called after us as we walked away.

"Bye Lettie."

"See you around Lettie."


	4. Leaving Home

On our way home I parted from Sophie. I remembered what was coming next. The Witch of the Waste would go to the shop and change Sophie. Part of me wished to be there, to help Sophie when she became what she would be. The other part knew that she had to be alone for this. If I was there then I might have been cursed too and if that was going to happen I'd rather not now that would happen. Part of my mind wandered on my long journey home, did Howl know the Witch of the Waste would find Sophie? Part of him had to remember the girl who called out to him from the past, is that why he... I shook my head of my thoughts. Don't be ridiculous Em, Howl's a good guy and he saved you and Sophie from those men because he saw you needed help. But why would I be his girl? I groaned before leaning on a nearby building. This was getting me nowhere fast except to a headache. I placed my hand on my temple, trying to get rid of it. The pounding only grew harder, louder even. I slipped down to the ground before my world went black.

 _Be alone no more, my little Emilia._

* * *

When I woke up, I jumped at how close a young familiar face was to mine.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you," he said backing away quickly. "You okay Em?" I looked at him confused.

"You know who I am? How?" I asked him confused. "How do you know me?"

"We met, remember? A long time ago," he now gave me a confused look before realization seemed to dawn on him. "You said one day you wouldn't remember me, but I didn't think." His voice broke off and I smiled at him.

"I'm sorry." He just smiled at me and shook his head.

"You warned me this day was coming, I'm happy that I have to deal with it now instead of earlier in my life." He stood up and reached down a hand for mine. I stared at it before placing my hand in his. He pulled me into his arms and I laughed lightly.

"I think you used more strength than you intended to," I said looking up at him.

"I don't think so." He stared down at me, his blue eyes almost glowing. I stared up at him, my face beginning to burn, before backing away.

"Sorry." I backed as far as I could go until all that was connected us was our hands. I stared at them before pulling my hand from his which caused it to be much colder than it should have been.

"Why are you apologizing, Em?" He asked me confused.

"You don't understand yet, but you will one day. I can't get in the way of what's supposed to happen." I offered him a small smile. Suddenly, my head started to hurt again. I groaned as I held my head. Howl came closer to me and I stopped him.

"Let me help you this time," he almost begged me and I just smiled at him.

"Thanks for the heads up that this happens often enough, but I don't think you can help this time any more than you did before or possibly after." I offered him a smile before falling to my knees. Before I fell to the ground, I was out.

* * *

By the time I got back to the shop, Old Sophie was doing her strange pacing of going outside then back in.

"Now, there' no use panicking, Sophie. Oh!" She tripped on the small ditch in the ground and I quickly ran to her side to help her straighten.

"Sophie?" I asked staring at her wrinkled face.

"This is just a bad dream, right?" she nearly begged, holding onto my arms with her hands. "We just have to go inside, go to bed, and it'll all be over."

"Soph, this isn't a dream you can wake up from." I helped her back inside and to the mirror. "You're going to be fine, Sophie. We'll think of something. We just have to stay calm." She started crying as I held her in my arms.

* * *

The next morning, I stood in Sophie's room as she stared outside. Her blanket was wrapped around her head as though she was deciding whether or not to venture outside.

"You can't stay in here forever," I told her. "We're going to have to find a witch to remove the curse."

"Sophie!" We both looked to the door at her mother calling for her eldest daughter. Mrs. Hatter knocked on the door, calling her daughter's name as she did so.

"Don't come in here," Sophie called back to her. "I've got a bad cold. I don't want you to catch it."

"You sound ghastly, like some 90-year-old woman," her mother told her.

"I'll just stay in bed all day, so you go on," Sophie insisted.

"Well... If you insist." I rolled my eyes at her mother. Not that my mother would have been different, but still.

"Up we go." Sophie finally pulled herself off the bed and went to her small wash area. "This isn't so bad, now, is it? I'm still in pretty good shape. And my clothes finally suit me."

"Soph, don't be like that," I told her. "We'll find someone to break this spell, I promise." We heard the girls downstairs talking and laughing.

"I can't stay here like this for long," Sophie nearly whispered to me as though they'd hear us from above them.

"Shall we pack up then?" I asked her. She turned to me, her eyes questioning what I was telling her. "You really think I'm going to let you leave without me?" She smiled gratefully before we both started packing our things.

* * *

I packed light: a couple changes of clothes and some food. That was it. I knew I wouldn't need much where we were going. I walked outside my room and turned when I heard bones cracking.

"Oh! Being old is worse than I thought," she told me.

"I bet everyone thinks that when they first get old," I teased her as we walked down the hallway. We raided the kitchen before leaving out the back of the house.

"They say their prince is missing." Two men at the opening of the alley said while looking at the paper.

"And they're blaming us."

"Yeah, and it sounds like they're gonna start a war."

"Nobody wants to go to war."

"Let's hope the prince turns up."

"Emi, are you coming?" I closed the door behind me and followed Sophie over the bridge as a train passed under us, covering us with smoke. We broke from the smoke coughing before going down the stairs.

"Excuse me, could you use some help?" a young man asked us.

"No thank you, sir," I said smiling at him. "My grandmother is just stubborn and thought the train smoke couldn't hurt her for a moment." Sophie gave me a look as we continued down the stairs. We made our way to the market where a man and his son were just about to leave with their wagon full of hay.

"Excuse me, sir?" I called to him. Sophie was forced to catch up to me as I tried sticking a deal to get us out of town. "My grandmother and I are making our way out of town, is there any room you could spare to take us?"

"Sure, there's room in the back, but where are you headed?" he asked me.

"Justa little ways farther than where you're going," Sophie told him once she'd caught up to me. We climbed onto the back of his wagon and rode our way out of town.

* * *

Once he came to a stop, we got off and continued walking to the wastes. It's where witches and wizards are rumored to be in flux, so it was a place to start looking for a way out of her curse.

"You're crazy if you two do this!" A man called to us as we walked. "There's nothing but witches and wizards out there! You'll get your granddaughter killed, grandma!"

"Thank you. We'll keep it in mind," Sophie called back to him as we walked.


	5. Turnips and Castles

We walked up the hill for sometime before sitting to eat our bread and cheese.

"We'll never get there at this rate," Sophie complained. "At least my teeth haven't fallen out yet."

"Silver linings," I mumbled looking out at the view in front of us. It was beautiful here even with all that had happened.

"You say such strange things sometimes," she said while looking around. I followed her gaze when it stopped and saw a stick sticking out of a bush. Well, that seemed familiar. "That would make a nice cane." She moved the bundle of food from her lap and creaked as she stood.

"Want some help?" I asked her.

"No, I got it." She grabbed the stick and started pulling, but it was good and stuck. "Might be too big." I stood up and stood in front of her.

"Push down," I told her. We pushed down three times before her back cracked again.

"This is a stubborn branch," she complained in some pain.

"Let me do it," I told her. I shooed her away from the branch before putting all my weight on it. Turnip Head rose after that and stood on his own. Sophie pulled me away from it, and we stared up at it.

"Just a scarecrow," she sighed happily. "I was afraid you were one of those blob men, but how are you standing on your own like that?"

"We are in the wastes," I reminded her. "Probably just a spell gone bad. Or a curse."

"You're head's a turnip! I've always hated turnips, ever since I was little."

"Be nice to the poor scarecrow," I reprimanded. "He can't help what his head is."

"At least he's not upside down now." Sophie went back to our bundle of food. "So long." We packed up and continued into the wastes.

* * *

The higher up we got, the windier it became which got us colder and colder.

"It's too cold," Sophie said before looking behind us. "And we can still see the town. We've barely moved."

"We can make it, Soph," I tried encouraging over my clicking teeth. She still stared behind me, and I turned to see Turnip Head following us with a cane on his arm.

"Go away!" Sophie told him. "Quit following me! There's no need to thank us! You don't owe us a thing! I'm sure Em's right, and you have some spell on you, and I've had more than enough with witches and spells!" He stopped hopping towards us and seemed to stare. "So just go find some field and stand in it!" She turned and continued up the hill while I stared at him. He stared back before I followed Sophie's lead. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of red, orange, and yellow with clouds hiding the setting sun and rising moon from view when Sophie looked like she was falling. I moved faster to hep her and got to her as Turnip Head did. He dropped the cane at her side, and she stared at it confused.

"You thought he was a cane at first," I reminded her. "Maybe that's his way of thanking you."

"Thank you," she smiled up at him. "This cane is perfect. It's exactly what I need. If you'd like to do me one more favor run off and find me a place to stay." He turned and hopped away from Sophie and us chuckled. "I seem to be quite cunning in my old age."

"You're as old as I am," I stated with a blank face before we both looked up. I glared up at the battleship passing above our heads.

"A battleship! You don't see a lot of those in town."

"No, thankfully we don't," I agreed as a harsh wind blew through us.

"Why do you get so cold when you're old?" she asked no one in particular. "I'm fatter than ever yet the wind blows right through me!"

"You're not the only one," I complained. I knew we'd be nice and warm soon, but it was freezing out here! We struggled to continue to walk when Sophie sat down. "We have to keep going and find shelter. We can't stay here." Suddenly, the smell of a friendly warm fire reached our noses.

"Someone's got a fire going," she said turning to look up the hill. "Maybe there's a cabin nearby." I helped her up, and we continued walking. We'd nearly crested the hill when a familiar sight greeted us. She stared up at it in shock as the castle walked towards us on thin legs, Turnip Head hopping right next to it. Nothing compared to seeing Howl's castle right in front of me. It looked dirtier than in the movie, more colorful, but it was a welcome sight. "You Turnip Head! That's Howl's castle!" she yelled at him. "That is not what I meant when I asked for a place to stay!"

"I'll take it over dying in the cold," I told her. The castle stopped above us before lowering its door to the ground so we could go inside.

"Look at that," Sophie said looking up at it amazed. "They call this a castle?" The castle seemed to hear her because it rose back up and started walking away from us again. We moved out of its way as the door passed between us. Turnip Head followed it before turning and looking at us. "Is that the way in?" Sophie and I chased after the castle door. I grabbed the rail and pulled myself up before reaching out for her. I managed to grab her hand as she ran after us. "Slow down." She ordered. "Make up your mind! Are you going to let me in or not?" The doorway scooped her up making her shawl fly away from us. "Oh! My shawl!" I opened the door and started moving inside to give her room to follow me. From the entrance, all we could see was the cobwebbed ceiling. I made a disgusted face at it.

"And this is how you know there's no woman in this place," I whispered to her. No need to get Calcifer mad at me before I met him.

"It's nice and warm in there, so we're going in," Sophie told Turnip Head behind us. "Oh my shawl, thank you. I'm sure Howl won't eat the heart of a shriveled old lady like me, and I'll protect Em. It's been a pleasure meeting you! Even if you are my least favorite vegetable!" We waved goodbye for now before going inside the warm castle.


End file.
